News Analysis India

Tag: Assam elections

  • Congress openly backed global conspirators who were out to discredit ‘Assam tea’: PM Modi

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Raking up the Toolkit issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the people in the country would not forgive the Congress for openly supporting those who were trying to destroy the identity of Assam tea.

    “As I have come to you, I cannot help telling you of a pain I am going through. You must have heard about Toolkit in recent times. A global conspiracy was hatched to defame Assam tea and Yoga which is a gift by the sages. The conspirators want the Assam tea gardens to suffer huge losses… The Congress, which ruled the country for 50-55 years, is openly supporting the conspirators. How does it dare seek votes in Assam? Can we forgive the party?” Modi asked a crowd while addressing a rally in Assam’s Chabua.

    The Toolkit is a document that educates and amplifies the cause of the protest. On February 4, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg had tweeted a toolkit related to the farmers’ protest in India.

    ALSO READ | The game is over: PM Modi, BJP lash out at Mamata Banerjee in Bengal

    The Chabua constituency in Upper Assam, which is a tea belt, has a sizeable number of tea garden voters. “There is tea in the name Chabua. We all know how the tea of Chabua is spreading its aroma worldwide…Who can understand the problems of tea workers better than a chaiwala,” Modi said.

    He claimed the Congress was steadily getting squeezed. “The Congress was once the biggest party of the country. But, it is now constantly getting squeezed. There is no respect for talent in it today. What matters the most for the Congress is the lust for power. It can take the help of any and give support to any for power. It does not matter for them if lies are needed to be told for it. With false promises, he has come to Assam on a tour. Be wary of him,” the PM said, alluding to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who is in the state.

    Modi claimed Assam constantly required the BJP and the NDA for the maintenance of peace and stability. He said the time was very crucial for the state. “From land to art, Assam has huge potentials for progress. We have to be vocal for local. We have to constantly work to take Assam to greater heights. Only the double engines of Central and Assam governments can do this work,” he said.

  • Accompanied by 2 CMs and Modi’s minister, Himanta files nomination amid cheers by sea of supporters 

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: In a show of might that could befit royalty, Assam Minister and BJP’s Northeast face Himanta Biswa Sarma filed his nomination paper in the presence of two Chief Ministers and some BJP Central leaders on Friday.

    It is rare that the Chief Minister of another state attends a mere filing of nomination paper by a leader.

    When Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal, his Manipur counterpart N Biren Singh, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, and BJP leader Baijayant Panda were seated at the office of Kamrup (Metro) Returning Officer in Guwahati, Sarma arrived with thousands of supporters following a 1.5-km roadshow.

    He is contesting from the Jalukbari seat, which covers parts of Guwahati and the city outskirts. The four-time powerful Minister has held the prestigious seat since 2001.

    “I seek the blessings of people for the candidates of BJP and (its allies) AGP (Asom Gana Parishad) and UPPL (United People’s Party Liberal),” Sarma told journalists after filing his nomination.

    ALSO READ | Congress and AIUDF alliance threat to Assamese culture, says Himanta Biswa Sarma

    Earlier in the day, after offering his prayers at the Kamakhya temple, he had told journalists that he was confident of a big win.

    “I had lost the 1996 elections by a few thousand votes. I won all subsequent elections. My margin of victory also increased every poll. I had won the 2016 election by 86,000 votes. This time, there are 2.02 lakh voters (in the Jalukbari seat). I am confident that I will win by 1.2-1.5 lakh votes,” the Minister said.

    He had won the 2001, 2006, and 2011 elections as a Congressman. In 2015, he had defected to the BJP after falling out with the then CM Tarun Gogoi.

    As his open vehicle was heading to the RO’s office, the supporters cheered, danced, and shouted slogans in his favour as well as in favour of BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He accepted floral garlands and “gamosas” from supporters and waved at them all the way.

    Both Sonowal and Singh exuded confidence that the BJP would be able to retain power for its various development initiatives and good governance.

    A master election strategist who is widely known for his political acumen, Sarma was instrumental in scripting BJP’s victory in Assam and some other states in the Northeast.

  • Assam polls: BJP spreads hatred wherever it goes, says Rahul Gandhi

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday reiterated that BJP fans hatred wherever it goes.

    “Do you think there is a connection between hatred and unemployment? I will answer the question. There is indeed a link between the two. If hatred rises, unemployment too will rise and vice versa. Congress roots out hatred, BJP spreads it. Peace and brotherhood are the prerequisites for business and progress. Congress brings those,” Gandhi said interacting with a group of college students at Lahowal in poll-bound Assam’s Dibrugarh.

    “No matter where they go, they will spread hatred. No religion teaches enmity,” he said.

    He renewed his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly favouring only a select few industrialists.

    “In today’s India, the youth cannot get jobs. PM Modi spoke of a start up ‘Make in India’ but if you check shirts, shoes and mobile phones, you’ll find ‘Made in China’ written on them. We want to see ‘Made in Assam’ and ‘Made in India’. BJP cannot do it. It works only for a select few industrialists,” Gandhi said.

    He slammed the PM for allegedly destroying small and middle size businesses through demonetisation.

    “At 8 pm one day, PM says he is demonetising currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denominations. That one step destroyed small and middle size businesses in the country and rendered lakhs of people jobless,” the Congress leader said.

    “He lied before you saying that it’s a fight against black money. I want to ask you if the problem of black money is over. The goal behind demonetisation was to take out money from the poor’s pockets and put it in the pockets of country’s two-three of the richest people,” Gandhi said.

    He said Modi did not stop there; he had then come up with GST. He committed that if voted to power, the Congress would hike the daily wage of Assam’s tea garden workers from Rs 167 to Rs 365.

    “Daily wage of Rs 365 is my guarantee. The way we waived off the loans of farmers in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, we will give you a daily wage of Rs 365 if we are voted to power,” Gandhi said with his message directed at tea workers at a rally in Chabua in Dibrugarh. 

  • Congress has no ‘neta, no ‘niti’: PM Modi in Assam

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the Congress has become so weak that it can go to any extent and partner anyone.

    “The Congress does neither have a ‘neta’ (leader) nor ‘niti’ (policy) and ideology. It has aligned with the Left in West Bengal but is grappling with it in Kerala. It attacks a party in one state but embraces it in another state,” Modi said at a rally at Karimganj in poll-bound Assam’s Barak Valley.

    “The Congress has become so weak that it can go to any level and join hands with anyone. The entire country is watching it,” the PM said.

    He continued, “The Congress has aligned with a party whose politics its (Congress’) workers have been fighting against for decades. Betraying people for the sake of votes is in its character.”

    ALSO READ | BJP plays Ajmal card in Assam, warns public not to let him reach doorsteps of power

    His attack was directed at the minority-based All India United Democratic Front, which is a component of a Congress-led and ten-party grand alliance of Opposition. It was formed to avoid the split of votes and thus, oust the BJP from power.

    Stating that the Congress’ confusion is in every direction, the PM asked the voters how a party that lacks stable thinking would give Assam a stable government.

    He said the Congress’ alleged indulgence in corruption, its vote-bank politics, and faulty policies disconnected Assam from the rest of the country and damaged it socially, culturally, geographically, and politically.

    He asserted that the BJP-led Central government was making the Northeast the country’s development hub with Assam as the main stakeholder. He said the Central and state governments would together make Assam an Atmanirbhar state.

    The PM said the Barak Valley was once rich in tea and petroleum products but the Congress destroyed the resources. Karimganj, Cachar, and Hailakandi districts make up the Bengali-majority valley.

  • Rahul Gandhi to interact with students in poll-bound Assam

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will interact with college students and meet tea estate workers as part of his poll campaign in Assam on Friday, the party said.

    Gandhi will be on a day-long tour to the poll-bound state where the Congress is seeking to wrest back power from the BJP.

    The former Congress chief will be interacting with college students in Lahoal in Dibrugarh on Friday morning and then attend the tea estate workers rally in Dinjoy in Panitola block of Dibrugarh later, the party said.

    He will also address a public meeting in Town Field in Doom Dooma in Tinsukia district of Assam, it said.

    “Looking forward to meeting you all in Assam! Together let’s defeat the forces that seek to divide us and join hands to build a strong, united, peaceful and prosperous Assam,” he said via messaging app Telegram.

    This is the second time Gandhi would be campaigning in Assam.

    Earlier, his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had also campaigned for the party in the state and met tea estate workers.

    Assembly elections in Assam are slated in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6, to elect the 126 member house.

    The results will be out on May 2.

  • BJP expels 15 leaders in Assam for filing nomination as Independent candidates

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The Assam BJP on Thursday expelled 15 leaders, including former deputy speaker Dilip Kumar Paul, from the party for six years for joining the assembly poll fray as Independents after being denied tickets.

    BJP state general secretary Rajdeep Roy said the party’s Assam chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass has approved the disciplinary action with immediate effect.

    The list of 15 members include Paul, who resigned from the BJP after he was denied a ticket and is contesting as an Independent from Silchar constituency.

    Out of 126 seats in Assam Assembly, BJP is contesting in 92 and has left the remaining to its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL).

  • Congress slams Yogi Adityanath for ‘distorting’ history of Srimanta Sankardeva

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: The Congress slammed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his statement that Assam’s medieval saint-reformer Srimanta Sankardeva had alerted people to the problem of illegal immigration.

    “It is a matter of happiness for us that it is also the land of Sankardeva. He was one of the leading luminaries of India’s cultural nationalism. This land was saved because of him. If Congress had succeeded with its diplomacy and politics of appeasement, this land would have created a problem for India like how the infiltrators posed a threat to national security…

    “Sankaradeva alerted people to the problem of illegal immigration. That’s why Congress has never tolerated him. Congress’s policy has never been development, progress, or your welfare but appeasement to capture power. The people of Assam have paid a price for it for a long time,” Adityanath said addressing a crowd at a rally at Hojai in Assam’s Nagaon district on Wednesday.

    The Congress slammed him for his “ignorance”.

    “This proves how much they know about the culture they claim they are going to protect. While Yogi ji talks about the much-revered 15th century saint fighting against infiltrators, he should know exactly what Srimanta Sankardeva fought against,” Bobbeeta Sharma, who is the chairperson of Pradesh Congress Committee’s media department, said.

    ALSO READ | BJP plays Ajmal card in Assam, warns public not to let him reach doorsteps of power

    She said Sankardeva was against the exploitation of people by those who followed the ideologies and dogmas laid down by Manusmriti and also idol worship. He believed in the assimilation of society and was against the caste system, she said.

    “Yogi needs lessons in history as does the PM (Narendra Modi) who said Lachit Barphukan was a freedom fighter. Lachit Barphukan was an Ahom general who fought the famous battle of Saraighat in 1671. The BJP keeps talking about Srimanta Sankardeva and Bir Lachit Barphukan at the drop of a hat, yet they do not know who they were or what they stood for. The APCC would like to gift some history books to Sri Modi and Sri Adityanath ji,” the Congress leader said.

    She added: “The BJP just talks in the air and thinks that the people of Assam do not notice anything. They are trying to impose Nagpur culture on the Assamese people and the people of Assam know very well how Nagpur culture can engulf and destroy Assamese culture.”

    A polymath, poet, playwright, socio-religious reformer, Sankardeva is credited with devising new forms of music, theatrical performance, dance (Sattriya), literary language (Brajavali), etc.

    Recently, Modi referred to the 17th century Ahom general Lachit Borphukan, who had fought the Mughals in the Battle of Saraighat, as a “freedom fighter” at a function to launch the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”.

  • Assam polls: Congress-AIUDF alliance a ‘Mahakhot’, says Fadnavis

    By PTI
    GUWHATI/NALBARI: BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday slammed the alliance of Congress and Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF in Assam calling it “Mahakhot” (great flaw), which he claimed will destroy the social and cultural fabric of the state.

    The alliance between the two parties was created to fulfill political ambitions, he said at an election rally at Nalbari.

    BJP and its allies are committed to ensuring security and prosperity to the people of the north eastern state and protect their culture, he said.

    “The Congress-AIDUF alliance is is not a ‘Mahajoth’ (grand alliance) but a ‘Mahakhot’ (great flaw) who have aligned to fulfill their political ambitions with the sole purpose to defeat BJP. But the people of Assam will reject them,” the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

    BJP has repeatedly denounced the alliance in Assam and union minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said it was forged to grab power in Assam and divide people along religious lines.

    Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan had said on Monday that instead of following Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress was following in “Jinnah’s footsteps” and asserted that it will “destroy” the country while referring to the opposition party’s alliance with ISF in West Bengal and IUML in Kerala, besides AIUDF in Assam.

    Fadnavis disagreed with NCP president Sharad Pawar’s view that BJP will win in Assam but lose in the other states going to the polls, which begin later this month.

    “I do not agree with Pawarji. BJP will definitely win in Assam and in the other states too”, he added.

    Assembly polls are slated to be held in West Bengal, Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, besides Assam.

    Later to questions about BJP’s promise made before the last state poll to send back all infiltrators from the state, Fadnavis told reporters “First we have to stop them from entering and then we can think of taking any other action”.

    The BJP-led government at the Centre has taken up the sealing of the border with Bangladesh in “a big way” and though some work is still left, it will be completed soon, he said.

    He asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured and strengthened the international borders with all the neighbouring countries.

    “Be it Bangladesh, Pakistan or China border, Modiji has ensured that it has been strengthened effectively so that infiltrators are not likely to easily attempt entering our country”, Fadnavis said.

    About China he said, “Every time they had made incursions, they occupied some area.

    But the last time they tried to enter, they were forced to go back and we did not lose any land”, he said.

    The BJP government in Assam under Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, he said, was able to bring about “good parivartan” and the transformation is socio-economic and not just political.

    During the last five years the BJP has shown the “politics of performance ” in Assam.

    “Our dream for Assam is to realise its potential, develop its resources and change the lives of the ordinary citizens,” the BJP leader said.

    “After BJP formed the government in Assam, the doors of North East opened for the NDA and BJP emergED as the most desired in the region”, he said.

    BJP has always believed in changing the society for better and to empower the weakest to ensure that democratic values percolate to the last person, he added.

  • AIUDF eyeing development of Assam, not CM’s chair: Badruddin Ajmal

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Re-affirming that he was not in the race for the chief minister’s post in Assam, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal on Tuesday said his party would always “stand for the state’s unity and development”, and continue to serve its people.

    He also said that a news channel has projected him as a CM candidate, despite clarifications given by his party that he was not up for chief ministership.

    “It has come to my notice that a particular news channel has been conducting an online opinion poll for the next Chief Minister of Assam. The channel has also included my name in the list. AIUDF has been regularly expressing its unwillingness for the post of CM,” he tweeted.

    Ajmal, who has been accused of encouraging infiltration in Assam by the BJP, further said that his party, which is a part of the Grand Alliance in the poll-bound state, will continue to support the coalition, if it comes to power.

    “Our party will be a partner in the Govt. by your support only following the upcoming election outcome and I will remain serving the people of Dhubri, Assam and NE from the Parliament.”

    “I offer my love and gratitude towards AIUDF supporters, however, AIUDF stands for unity and development in Assam and we would be committed to do so within grand alliance (sic),” he added.

  • Assam polls: Allies BJP, UPPL to go for friendly fight in 3 seats

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: The BJP’s new-found ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) will contest in 11 seats in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) in the upcoming Assam elections.

    The BTR has 12 constituencies in four districts such as Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, and Udalguri which are administered by the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).

    The BJP and the UPPL will have friendly contests in three seats such as Bijni, Kalaigaon and Majbat. The UPPL is not contesting from the Panery seat where the BJP has fielded Rajya Sabha member Biswajit Daimary.

    The UPPL, which is headed by former student leader and the incumbent Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the BTC Pramod Bodo, announced the names of eight candidates on Tuesday. Earlier, it announced the names of three candidates.

    Urkhao Gwra Brahma — a former MP, social worker and poet who is a recipient of the Sahitya Academy Award — has been fielded from the Chapaguri seat.

    ALSO READ | Shah slams Congress’ talks of secularism with AIDUF barb in Assam

    The other candidates of the party are Somnath Narzary (Gossaigaon), Lawrence Islari (Kokrajhar East), Manaranjan Brahma (Kokrajhar West), Jayanta Basumatary (Sidli), Phanin Boro (Bijni), Leho Ram Boro (Tamulpur), Bhupen Boro (Barama), Ratendra Daimary (Majbat), Kamal Azad (Kalaigaon) and Gabinda Chandra Basumatary (Udalguri).

    Gabinda Chandra Basumatary, a rebel leader-turned-politician is the Deputy CEM of the BTC.

    In the 2016 elections, the BJP’s now-estranged ally Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) had won all the 12 seats in the BTR. Ditched by the BJP, the BPF has since joined the Congress-led grand alliance of Opposition. The ten-party alliance was formed with the sole aim of ousting the BJP from power.

    The BPF had ruled the BTC for 17 years since its creation in 2003 as a political solution to the Bodo agitation for a separate state. In the BTC elections held in December last year, the BJP-UPPL combine had defeated the BPF and grabbed power.

    The BPF had emerged as the single largest party by winning 17 of the BTC’s 40 seats but could not cobble up the numbers to retain power.